Canadian children's independent mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic: A national survey

Highlights

• We assessed correlates of independent mobility (IM) in the second wave of COVID-19.

• Correlates of IM spanned all levels of influence of the social-ecological model.

• Correlates of boys' and girls' IM were generally similar.

• The final multivariable model explained 35.3% of the variance in IM.

• Interventions to support children's IM should target multiple levels of influence.

Abstract

Independent mobility (IM) is associated with children's physical activity and indicators of social, motor, and cognitive development. We surveyed Canadian parents of 7- to 12-year-olds (n = 2291) about social-ecological correlates of IM in the second wave of COVID-19 (December 2020). We used multi-variable linear regression models to identify correlates of children's IM. Our final model (R² = 0.353) included four individual-, eight family-, two social environment- and two built environment-level variables. The correlates of boys' and girls' IM were similar. Our findings suggest that interventions to support children's IM in a pandemic context should target multiple levels of influence.